Point Me To The League
by Sequoiane
Summary: A journey fic, with May becoming a Coordinator like the Anime. Hoennshippy and Advancedshippy, depending on which way you take it. [block]
1. Chapter 1

okay, this fic is rated PG-13...there might be a kissing scene, that's why...

Chapter 1  
Where All Isn't In…Littleroot?

_Well...this is Point Me To The League, a Hoenn and possibly Advancedshipping fic. Hope you enjoy it! as i said...it's shippy, so it might annoy some people...oh yeah, the punctuation..._  
"..." normal people talk  
... pokemon translated talk  
_italics_ thoughts, or authoress notes XD  
_there...savvy?_

Two girls walk through Petalburg Forest, one of them already a trainer. The trainer had long pale green hair, all messed up, and she was wearing a red and white long sleeved shirt that extended past her hip, black shorts, and red and white sneakers: the outfit of a Cool Trainer. The other girl had medium length brown hair that was parted sharply down the back, so it ended up being in two bunches that stuck out at the sides, a red and black dress, a white mini skirt, black shorts, and red trainers. Her name was May Sapphire, daughter of the Petalburg Gym Leader, Norman.

"Brooke, what starter Pokemon should I get?" she said.

"Well…how about Torchic? I've heard you can beat the Elite 4 with just Blaziken," Brooke replied thoughtfully.

"Hmm…maybe, but Mudkip seems pretty strong too!"

"May…think about it when we get to the lab…" Brooke replied irritatedly.

"Okay, okay…calm down Brooke," May winked at her.

They walk along the peaceful Route 101, with its kind of weak Pokemon sleeping, until the signpost of Littleroot Town comes into view.

"Finally we're here!" May exclaims.

Knocking on the door, Brooke walks into the lab and asks for Professor Birch. His assistant apparently can't hear her, since he's still typing away at his computer. 

"Helloooooo…where's Professor Birch? Is he out on fieldwork?" Brooke asks once again.

Professor Birch's assistant looks up.

"Oh sorry, I was concentrating too hard on my work here…Professor Birch? He's out on fieldwork,"

"Any specific Route you can name us?" May says.

"Not that I can remember the Professor saying,"

Brooke rolls her eyes and flounces out of the door. May apologizes and runs out after Brooke.  
"Brooke! Where are you going?" May shouted down the Route.

Mistake. A whole family of Wurmple wake up and start to slither towards her, as well as a person furiously writing down notes on a clipboard.

"Hey! Who woke all these Wurmple?" Professor Birch shouts.

" it…BROOKE! HELP!"

Professor Birch desperately tries to reach for his bag, which contains the starter Pokemon, but the Wurmple have already cut him off.

"You there! Find a pokeball in my bag and help me! Hurry up!" he calls to May.

"Me? I'm not a trainer though…" May says awkwardly.

"Just help me…"

"Ok…" May looks through the bag and pulls out a squashed sandwich.

"Uh…that was my lunch…"Professor Birch starts to gabble.

May shrugs and searches again. This time she finds a small tape recorder that starts to play:

"Hey Dad, hope you love the new Pikachu underwear I bought you for your birthday, lotsa love Brendan."

"And that was a, uh, lovely birthday message that my son left me…uh…" Professor Birch is blushing furiously by now, as well as fending off the Wurmple with a pen attached to a piece of cord.

"Right…" May finds a red and white ball-like object, "Yes! This is it! Go!"

May threw the pokeball hard at the Wurmple. An orange chick Pokemon comes bursting out. May sighs.

"Out of the three starter Pokemon, I had to pick the Pokemon Brooke wants…well, Torchic, use Ember on the Wurmple there!"

The Torchic looks indignantly at May, then blows reddish yellow flames at the Wurmple. The Wurmple, realizing this was a battle, turn away from harassing Professor Birch and now form into a ring around the Torchic.

I can't take on all these Wurmple by myself! it says, confusing May since she can hear it.  
May is about to command another attack when two more Pokemon come flying out of their pokeballs near the Torchic!

"Go, Meditite and Swablu! Use Hidden Power and Peck on those Wurmple there!" Brooke had come back from walking all the way to Oldale Town!

"Brooke! You're back!" May said happily.

"Yep…now let's get this battle started!" Brooke winked at May.

Professor Birch is edging to his bag, eager to get the tape recorder and the sandwich out of sight before anyone else saw them. Keeping his eye on the battle, he swung his bag over his shoulder and sat down for an interesting battle…

"Use Ember again on that Wurmple there, Torchic!" May pointed at a weakening Wurmple at the edge of the battle.

The Torchic gritted her teeth and fired hot red flames at the small Wurmple. Out of pure exhaustion, it collapsed in a faint.

"Yay! My first Pokemon faint! Use Scratch on that Wurmple now, Torchic!" May shouts once again.

Tired… the Torchic murmurs, but runs up to the Wurmple and gives it a swipe of its talons.

"How ya going, Brooke? Torchic use Ember in a ring around you, to get rid of those couple of Wurmples!"

Brooke, on the other hand was desperately trying to get sticky String Shots off her Swablu, who was trying to clean them off with her own methods, aka flapping her wings hard.

"Ow…use Steel Wing on those Wurmple, with the String Shot as roughness!" Brooke ordered.

Swablu obeyed, and struck the Wurmple hard with the String Shots as extra damage. All of the struck Wurmple fainted on the spot.

"Repeat that move, Swablu, strike them in the head this time!" Brooke shouted again.

Meanwhile May was busy battling the last of the Wurmple, "Use Ember in a circle again, and faint those last three Wurmple there, Torchic!"

Torchic obeyed the command and blew the flames out, fainting the last of the Wurmple.

"Yeah! An entire family of Wurmple fainted by us!" May cheered.

Brooke was taking a closer look at Professor Birch's face.

"Hey, aren't you Professor Birch? So you were here doing fieldwork!" she exclaimed.

Professor Birch smiled sheepishly.

"I was just finishing my notes when this trainer here woke the Wurmple by accident," he replied, glancing over at May, who was starting to blush.

"I'm not a trainer, I was just coming to Littleroot Town to get my starter," May explained.

"Ah…now I see…let's head back to the lab before we do anything else," the Pokemon Professor decided.

Back at the lab, Professor Birch's wife came running up and checked the Professor up and down.

"I'm okay, there's a trainer that wants a starter here," Professor Birch said to his wife awkwardly. His wife took no notice and kept on checking his clothes too. She then takes out a mobile phone and calles a quick-dial number, which happens to be '1'.

"Hello Brendan, your dad just got himself into another wild Pokemon jump, can you go and buy a pair of Pokeball underwear and some khaki pants for him? Oh and don't forget to get him a new shirt too…and a pair of-" she was cut off apparently by Brendan saying something, "okay then, I'll pay you back when you get back, bye!" Mrs Birch then looked at the two girls, and noticed Brooke's Cool Trainer clothing.

"You won't be the one needing the starter then. What's your name?" she said, addressing May. May was shocked and by accident stuttered her name.

"M-May Sa-Sapphire,"

Professor Birch then cut in.

"Shouldn't you be getting home to cook dinner? Off you go!" he pushed his wife gently towards the lab door. Mrs Birch protested but in the end went off to cook dinner. Proffessor Birch turned back to May.

"Now…which starter do you want? There's Treecko-" he released Treecko "- Mudkip-" he threw Mudkip's pokeball "-and Torchic, whom you just battled with," he ended.

May stared at the three Pokemon and looked at Torchic. It didn't seem very happy, since May had insulted it before. Treecko looked just as relaxed as it normally was, but Mudkip was jumping up and down in happiness.

Pick me pick me! He called.

May looked confused again, so she turned to Brooke for help. Brooke shrugged at her and looked at Professor Birch. Professor Birch raised his eyebrows, and stared down at the starter Pokemon. May looked back down at the Pokemon. Mudkip, Torchic, or Treecko? May was thinking.

"I pick…Mudkip…" she said finally.

Professor Birch picked up Mudkip's pokeball and gave it to May, as well as the PokeDex and her five extra pokeballs.

"You should go and meet my kid, Ru-Brendan,he's out on Route 103 looking for new Pokemon," he told May.

"Isn't he buying you new underwear and clothes?" Brooke cut in.

"Uh…."

_End of the first chapter...How was it? Please R&R! and this chapter is a little bit short, it'll improve once I get comments…_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Battle Thy Neighbour!

_all right! so we're back for some more of PMTTL? yayness…XD well read on to the next chapter!_

Last Chapter  
_May has saved Professor Birch from a family of Wurmple she woke by accident, and chosen her starter to be Mudkip. Now she and Brooke are going to Route 103 to meet the Professor's kid, Brendan. Now read on…_

"Argh! Why are there so many Ninjasks around? I'm sooooo itchy!" May yells to Route 101. Her companion, Brooke, shrugs her shoulders.

"That's what you get when you travel. It's expected…do you want some Pokemon Repellent?"

May rolls her eyes, "Of course you don't mind, you've been a trainer for half a year already! And plus, you see those Rangers and Campers a lot, don't you?" she added slyly.

"Come on May…"

They stopped at Oldale Town to heal Brooke's Pokemon after the battle with the Wurmple. The PokeCenter here was peaceful, "unlike the ones at Slateport," Brooke says. After resting the Pokemon , Brooke decides to restock on her supplies, dragging May much to her protest along with her to show her some of the things a trainer should have at all times. In front of the Mart, however, a PokeMart attendant walks up to May and asks if she is a rookie trainer.

"Yep, I just got my starter Pokemon!" she replies, pointing to Mudkip's pokeball on her hip pack . She then frowns, making Brooke and the attendant frown too. May cracks up due to Brooke's weird frown, with her nose squished up and her eyebrows pushed up against each other.

"Brooke, don't make me laugh…please," May says with difficulty.

The PokeMart attendant looks at both of them weirdly, but turns to May anyway.

"So you're a rookie trainer? Okay, I'd like you to have this as a promotional item," she hands May a Potion. May looked at the Potion like it was a Martian or something close to that.

"What's this for?" she asks quizzically. The Potion had a label, but May couldn't see it.

Brooke looks at her like SHE was the alien.

"This is a POTION, for healing your Pokemon when you're not close to a PokeCenter…" Brooke replied with a hint of fascination.

May shrugged, "Oh well, not like I was a genius at being a trainer like you…"

Brooke smiled and flounced off to Route 103.

"But when you actually act like you're a genius, that's the problem," May muttered when Brooke was well out of ear-shot.

Out on the noisy Route 103, the grass was being blown around into shapes by the wind, while the snow white hair of a 13 year old boy was lifted up past his bandana. His hair was, hence the last sentence, bound close to the hairline with a Hoenn Pride bandana, with the Hoenn League symbol printed on it. In fact, he was completely dressed in Hoenn Pride gear, with blue and yellow tracksuit pants and a black jacket with red stripes. He was staring at a tree, muttering under his breath what type of Pokemon could be found here. May and Brooke were at the other end of Route 103, having fun battling and catching a couple of Pokemon on their way to meet Professor Birch's son, Brendan. Just before the ledge that appeared with a patch of grass, a Zigzagoon jumped May!

May looked the wild Pokemon, confused. "So you want a battle? That's weird, I never knew wild Pokemon would want challenge trainers…anyway, go, Ice! Use Water Gun on the Zigzagoon!" May yelled as she released her Mudkip, nicknamed Ice, "uncreatively", as Brooke had commented, and commanded it to use Water Gun.

Mudkip obeyed commands, and blasted an icy cold jet of water at the Zigzagoon. The Zigzagoon, even though scared, stood its ground and cutely Growled at Ice. Ice's attack was lowered, which caused May to rack her brains as to do what next.

_Hmm…if I use Water Gun, the attack won't be as effective…I might catch it, seeing as it's so weak now…_ "Go, pokeball!" May threw a Pokeball at the Zigzagoon, sucking the Raccon Pokemon up into the depths of the pokeball. After a few tense heart beats, a small Ting! was heard. Brooke started celebrating.

"Yay! Your second Pokemon caught, May! Woohoo!" she shouted to the Route. May looked at her weirdly.

"Brooke, I don't see it as a big deal…it's just my first Pokemon caught…" May started slowly…

Brooke shrugged and continued to walk along, only to realize something and dash back to May.

"If you're having a battle with the Professor's son, aren't you going to heal your Pokemon first?" Brooke asked. 

"Maybe I should…come on, let's go back to Littleroot Town, to see my mum and to heal up before going for the Brendan dude,"

"Awww…the long walk back…" Brooke complained. May broke into a run, using the Running Shoes she had received from her mum just before she left Littleroot Town. Reading the instructions, she said them aloud to Brooke, who was running beside her with normal Cool Trainer shoes. "_Press the B Button to run, and go for the great outdoors with them on!…_that's weird, I'm not going to the great outdoors, I'm travelling with Pokemon!" May frowned.

Brooke continued to run with May, not even huffing, since she had gone through training before joining officially to the Cool Trainers. May was starting to get really puffed though, since she was used to having her bike in Petalburg City. Brooke looked at her and laughed.

"Come on May, get those fat legs of yours moving!" she grinned.

May was insulted. "Hey, my legs aren't fat! See what I can do!" She turned the dial on the shoes up to high, and managed to beat Brooke by a couple of seconds back to the lab. Smiling broadly, May turned to Brooke to see her downfallen face, but instead, saw a triumphant square face. May's expression turned to a stunned look.

"What is the matter with you, Brooke? How high is your self-esteem? Must be unbeatable…" May commented breathlessly. She grabbed a small bottle of water from her bag, and took huge gulps out of it, almost draining the whole bottle. She then offered it to Brooke, who was already pouring her own red bottle over her head, to try and cool it down. May's eyes bulged. She looked at her bottle with barely five gulps left, and poured it over her head too, screaming loudly in the process. All the residents of Littleroot looked out of their windows at the brown haired girl that was running around in circles on the damp grass while pouring the last drops of water over her head. Two Routes over, a white-haired boy looked over his shoulder, disrupted from his research by an audible scream he was sure came from Littleroot. There weren't any girls living in Littleroot, so he shrugged this off. May, on the other hand, had calmed down from the freezing cold water, and was now standing there, dripping water onto the red flowers that grew in Littleroot. Brooke was staring at her, dumbfounded by her behaviour.

"What was up with you? And by the way, you cheated!" She said, stunned. May was grinning stupidly now.

"Just trying to copy you! And I didn't cheat…it looked like fun, pouring water over your head, but I forgot I had freezing cold water…" May turned red with embarrassment.

Brooke shook her head. She motioned towards the lab, and walked off. May meekly followed her all the way on the pressed track down to Professor Birch's laboratory. Entering the new sliding glass doors, Brooke said a quick hello to her uncle, Professor Birch's assistant, and walked up to Professor Birch's office.

"Hello? Professor Birch? Are you there?" she called.

May was trying her best not to drip onto the floor, but there was still a puddle of wetness just next to her feet. Desperately May looked for a towel in her backpack. Brooke paid no attention, apart from a glance, and walked around slowly trying to find the Professor. Her uncle came up and told her he was at home, one of the rare occasions he was at home, actually. Brooke nodded slowly and stopped May's search for a towel. May started to gabber something, but then quickly walked back home, to have a shower and get a fresh outfit. Brooke followed quietly.

Upon arriving home, Mrs Sapphire came up and stopped herself just in time, as she was about to give May a hug. The dripping May was sulking, and she ran upstairs to find a new outfit and a towel. Brooke sat down in the kitchen, drinking lemonade. Half an hour later, steam began to come out of the bathroom door, indicating something was happening, but Mrs Sapphire said "not to worry, she does that all the time", so Brooke settled down and watched TV. A red May came out of the shower, dressed in her other Hoenn outfit another half an hour later. _Uh oh, I must've been really long in there…_ May thought, as she noticed the look on Brooke and her mum's face.

Saying goodbye to her mum, May made her way along with Brooke to Oldale Town again, training her newly caught Zigzagoon. Busy thinking of a nickname for it, May ran out of ideas and asked Brooke.

Brooke just frowned. "I have no idea why you want to give your Pokemon nicknames. We don't, we just refer to them as their species," A tinkling sound came from nowhere, captivating May's attention. She walked towards Route 103, wanting to see what was making that sound. Brooke hurried to catch up with her. Eventually, she ended up staring at the person too, just like May was. Surprisingly, there had been no wild battles while they were walking through the Route. The person was a white haired teenage boy, playing an instrument known as a triangle. A tinkling tune was in the air, and May was suddenly mesmerized by it. Brooke wasn't though.

"May! Wake up! This is probably Brendan, you need to battle with him!" Brooke shook May hard. May woke up slowly from her trance. She looked at the Hoenn Pride clothes that the boy was wearing, and guessed that he was Brendan Birch too. She walked up to him and asked him a simple question.

"Are you Brendan Birch?" May asked. The boy turned around and stared above May at first, then at her.

"Sorry, I was expecting somebody taller. And yes, I am Brendan Birch, why do you ask?" Brendan replied, throwing and catching a pokeball in his right hand. In his left hand was the instrument May had seen, which she now knew was called a triangle. May was looking like she was still in the trance. Brendan frowned and waved his hand in front of her face, causing a blush from May.

"Sorry, I was thinking about that music, but anyway, my name is M-May, and I'm supposed to be battling you…Professor Birch told me you were his son."

Brendan looked mildly surprised. "Dad sent you? That's weird, he hardly ever does…he must think you have potential! Let's get this battle started, then!" He ended his statement by throwing the pokeball towards a flat grassy area near where he was standing. Brooke took up the referee role, and stated the rules.

"You will use one Pokemon each, no time limit, and no items allowed. Start."

May sent out her Mudkip, Ice, while Brendan released his Treecko, nicknamed Arrow. May decided to go first, and commanded a Tackle on Arrow. Brendan countered this by asking for a Pound. Both attacks hit the offending Pokemon, and the health reduced by one third. May bit her lip and thought for a while, giving Brendan time to command another attack.

"Pound, Arrow!"

May gasped and quickly told Ice to use Tackle. Arrow's attack hit first, because of it's speed, and Ice really was tired by now. It crashed into Arrow weakly, and crawled slowly back to May's side. May was getting very nervous by now, and tried her most unfamiliar attack, Mud Slap. It wouldn't be of much use, but lowering accuracy was important.

"Use Mud Slap, Ice! It's our last chance!" 

Ice fired a small Water Gun at a patch of dirt, to create mud, then dipped its tail in and flicked the entire lot at Arrow. The Treecko's accuracay was lowered, and gave a moment of panic to Brendan. He recovered quickly though, and commanded a Pound attack at Ice.

"Dodge, Ice! Quick!"

But by this time, Ice was so tired its reaction had become very slow, and couldn't dodge fast enough. The Pound hit it from the head first, then the attack's feeling went right down to its tail. Ice collapsed in a faint, from pure tiredness.

"Mudkip has fainted, the victory goes to Treecko!"

May held out the Pokeball for Ice and whispered a few words of encouragement to it. "You did your best, ice, that's all I needed." May grabbed her wallet, and started to open the zip to give Brendan his prize money, but he held out a hand and stopped her.

"It won't count this time, okay?" He grinned, "It's only your first trainer battle, isn't it? Well…let's get back the lab and tell Dad about our match!" He walked to Oldale Town, and disappeared into the PokeCenter. May stared in awe.

"He's cool! And I can't believe he's also a good musician too…" May trailed off…

Brooke looked at her, and decided not to say anything, just to save herself from being killed. They walked off together into the PokeCenter, just as Brendan was leaving.

"Oh? I might wait for you, we can go back to the lab together." He offered.

May smiled and agreed. She went inside and gave her Pokeballs to Nurse Joy, commenting on how contented she was today. Nurse Joy hid her smile, as both May and Brendan had told her that, except separately. Outside, the trio began the long walk back to Littleroot Town…

_Well how was that? XD 5 and a half pages, is that long enough (for now)? Thanks for all the random ideas from my great friend neopolis3 off SPPF!_


	3. Chapter 3

Point Me To The League

Chapter 3

Petalburg with Love!

Disclaimer I do not own Pokemon, or Bridget Jones' Diary 2

All right, me hearties! We're here for our favourite fic…PMTTL! so read on, and find out what comes next…I feel like being a pirate today…and this chapter is an in-between chapter, with SHIPPY hints…read on if you want!

Last Time…

Brooke and May found their way to Route 103, and May battled Brendan, with Brendan winning. While their Pokemon are healing at the Pokemon Center, May thinks Brendan is cool, while Brendan's thoughts are unrevealed. They are now walking back to Littleroot together…

"Oh? So you were born in Hoenn and grew up in Hoenn? How interesting…I lived in Johto, so we're pretty new here. Brooke grew up in Kanto, and moved here with me!"

May seemed to be telling her family moves since she had been born. Brendan was replying, but very dully. As for Brooke…she was looking straight ahead and ignoring May and Brendan's chatter. Past Route 101, past the family of Wurmple…soon they saw the now familiar signpost of Littleroot Town, and hurried to get to the square white building that was the Pokemon Lab. The door looked like it had been kicked recently, though. Brendan stared for a while at the footmarks on the glass sliding door, and frowned. He walked inside, and May followed, with Brooke marching through like she had been before.

"Dad what happened outside- oh!" Brendan could be heard yelping. He now sounded like a puppy, so May went and tried to find the puppy she thought was there.

"Where's the puppy? Where's the puppy, Brooke?" May asked while searching under the tables and chairs. Brooke glanced at her and sighed.

"May…there is no puppy…it's Brendan yelping…"Brooke told her. May's face dropped quickly. She stuck her head around the corner of the Professor's office. Her face turned bright red and quickly pulled her head back around the corner and gulped. Brooke surveyed her and asked her what was wrong. May replied embarrassedly.

"Um…Brendan was …uh…changing in the Professor's office…the Professor was …uh…holding up a pair of …uh…boxers and…uh…Brendan seemed to really like them, so he was…uh…yelping…" May said slowly.

Brooke's face stayed calm for two seconds, while her long-lashed eyes blinked a couple of times, then she cracked up laughing. She tried to say something, but resulted in laughing even harder, making May blush harder as well. She started to laugh nervously just as Brendan and Professor Birch came out. They were talking normally until they saw the girls, and suddenly silence was hanging in the air. May was blushing very much now, and she ran out of the lab. Brooke shrugged her shoulders, and walked out after May. Brendan gulped and looked at his dad. Professor Birch had a small smile on his face, and he pushed Brendan out of his lab, with a knowing glance. Brendan understood the glance and jogged after Brooke, who was walking towards Route 101. He guessed May was running home with her running shoes, and searched around in his red backpack for his own running shoes. Throwing out a lot of junk with his things inside, the running shoes were nowhere to be found. Brendan's eyes bulged and he started searching more furiously.

"Damn it…don't tell me I left them at home…please no…" he muttered.

The running shoes had indeed been left at home, under his bed since he was wearing normal trainers at the moment. Brendan sighed, and began to jog towards Oldale Town to get some items before heading to check on May. His face slowly turned pink while he jogged, and by the time he got to Oldale Town's Mart, his whole face was red. As you probably guessed, this wasn't from running but from…I'll leave you to think about it heh. Walking inside, Brendan chose a couple of items that he was low on, since he hadn't brought a lot of money, and rushed out onto Route 102. This Route led to Petalburg, which was where Mr and Mrs Sapphire's gym house was located. Norman Sapphire was the leader of Petalburg Gym, so it seemed reasonable that they had a second house there. Brendan decided to run quickly, since he didn't want to get there when it was late.

On May's side, she was walking slowly up the driveway of the gym house, next to the gym, and heard shouts coming from it. She automatically knew it was a gym challenger, and noted the fact he had spiky black hair under a Hoenn cap. May ran silently up the rickety stairs that led from the driveway to the front door, and pressed the doorbell. A soft voice called out "Coming" from inside the house, and the stained glass door opened. The brown haired woman gasped, and hugged May tightly. May choked and staggered into the house, flopping heavily onto a sofa in the next room, their lounge. A younger boy wearing black-rimmed glasses walked in, staring at the Hoenn Pride figure lying on the sofa.

"Where's your starter Pokemon? Which one did you choose? Can I see? Have you trained it? Is it cool-" he began firing questions at May, who looked back at him and was speechless. The woman from before, by the name of Caroline, was their mum, and she stopped in the doorway, frowning at the boy.

"Max, you shouldn't ask so many questions at once, it's not polite." She said in the same gentle tone, with a hint of annoyance now. May smirked and poked her tongue out at Max, "and you shouldn't poke your tongue out all the time either, May." May stuck her tongue back in quickly. She got up and walked down the corridor, turning right into an orange and blue room before slamming the door shut. Her hip pack now lay on her bed, with her Pokeball about to fall out of its holder. May took no notice, and opened up her laptop that was sitting on her pine table, and logged onto her user. Opening up her online diary, she began to type.

Hey Diary

I can't believe what I saw today, it was so embarrassing! The son of the Professor was changing in his office…and it was into new boxers! And Brooke must think I'm so weird now, even though we've known each other for five years. When we raced into the quiet Littleroot, I saw her pour water on her head, and I tried to copy her. I'd forgotten my water was icy, and my head still feels cold…the Professor's son is pretty cool, even though I lost against him in our battle. Anyway, I have to go now, see ya round!

May added it to her diary, then closed her new laptop. She looked around her room, finding it was slightly different from before. Her poster of the regions' cities was falling off, and her cupboard's new coat of orange paint was peeling off already. May also noticed that her blue blanket was opening a little at the seams. And finally, she saw that her drawers in the pine table she had were roughly shoved in, something she would never do to the table she had made herself. Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed her Pokeball and closed her door behind her quietly, but the faded sign saying 'May' still rattled against the door loudly. The rattle echoed down the corridor, making a head pop out of the room a few metres down from hers. Black-rimmed glasses were askew on the face.

"May why don't you get rid of that stupid door sign? It's annoying me every time you come out of your room!" Max said. He frowned at May, while she stared back at him angrily.

"Have you been messing around in my room!" May asked, trying to keep her anger down, with no luck. Max looked horrified.

"Ye-No, I haven't done anything to your room, May," He lied quickly. May narrowed her already narrowed eyes, took an obvious deep breath, and shouted down the stairs.

"MUM! MAX'S BEEN MESSING AROUND IN MY ROOM!"

In the kitchen, preparing tea, Caroline cringed. It always hurt when her daughter shouted like that. She put down her oven mitts and stared longingly at the warm brown kitchen, with tea half prepared on the table, wishing she didn't have to go up and stop the quarrel between May and Max. Caroline slowly walked up the stairs…

"IT'S NOT RIGHT THAT I GO TO LITTLEROOT AND YOU USE MY COMPUTER TO LOOK UP STUFF!" May shouted at Max. He glared at her and shouted back.

"WELL I DON'T HAVE A COMPUTER OF MY OWN, SO I HAVE TO USE YOURS! AND NOW I KNOW YOUR SECRET!" Max retorted. Caroline cringed again and said something quietly, which both of them didn't pick up. She sighed and walked down the stairs again, this time going into the lounge. She looked in the large shelves in the corner, beside the TV, and found a silver whistle. Caroline ran up the stairs and watched May and Max for a moment. Taking an obvious deep breath like May, she blew the whistle hard, resulting in the two covering their ears up and stopping the quarrel. Caroline sighed happily and went back to the kitchen to finish cooking. No sooner had she put her foot on the stairs, a whiff of burnt food started coming up. May looked at Max, and ran down the stairs, stopping in front of the kitchen door. She walked in, followed by Caroline then Max, looking worried that he mightn't get any tea to eat. May looked around for the oven mitts, but Caroline had stuck them in the fridge by accident, so May sighed and wrapped the end of her skirt around her hand. She turned the dial on the oven to off, and opened the door of the oven, screaming.

At that moment, Brendan was walking by their house, and thought he recognized that scream. He walked down the drive and rang the bell, waiting rather impatiently.

Max reacted to the bell, and went to open the door. As the stained glass door opened for the second time that day, it revealed a relaxed but impatient Brendan Birch. He looked at Max, and frowned.

"Does May Sapphire live here?"

Max looked dumbly at Brendan. "Yes she does. Who's this?" He asked rudely.

An annoyed voice came out of the kitchen. "Max don't be so rude! Ask him who he is first!" Caroline's voice floated out.

Max blushed and sweat-dropped. "Uh, okay Mum. What's your name?" Max smiled annoyingly now. Brendan blinked a couple of times and answered.

"Brendan Birch. You don't need my middle name…my dad told me to find May, since she still needs her starter equipment." Brendan replied. Max's eyes lighted up.

"Wow, are you really the son of Professor Birch? How cool! Can I go over and study the starter Pokemon?" Max said hurriedly, since he didn't want Brendan to have no time to listen. Brendan raised one eyebrow.

"You're really that keen to study just the Hoenn starters? That's interesting…can I talk to May please?"

Caroline came out of the kitchen, holding a plate with cupcakes on them. She offered the plate to Brendan. "Want one? Freshly baked, and please come in,"

Brendan accepted and chewed the cupcake thoughtfully. What had made May rush home, in less than four hours? When it had taken him, Brendan, more than seven hours to walk here?

He walked behind Caroline, with Max chattering away beside him. May was sitting in the kitchen, pouring icing onto the cakes with a teaspoon. When she saw Brendan, she blushed, and dropped the spoon. She ran out of the room, and sprinted up the stairs. Brendan looked surprised, and walked up the stairs to knock on May's room. There was no answer. Brendan walked down the stairs again, and sat down to eat cupcakes and tea.

Meanwhile in her room, May logged onto her diary again, and began to type.

_Hey Diary_

_I'm back again, since : he : is here, and I locked myself in my room. I wish Brooke was here, she would make life a lot easier! Oh, why didn't I think of ringing her? But I'll have to make sure my PokeGear's working…anyway, he is here, as I said, but I'm so embarrassed! I'm not going to tell anyone else to save me from disaster. This entry might be long, since I don't know when Brooke's going to come. But yeah, he's cool as I thought, and now I can't even talk to him cos I'm so embarrassed about that changing incident! Thank god I have this diary…if anyone knows how to use a PokeGear properly in another region, tell me! I need to ring Brooke desperately…_

Closing the window only, May walked over to her yellow shelves, and looked for her PokeGear. Sifting through at least ten devices, from Kanto and Johto, May finally found her PokeGear, and searched for Brooke's old GearNo. Hoping that Brooke had been carrying her PokeGear, May selected the GearNo. She waited for a few glass-shattering heart-beats…

Brooke was walking into Petalburg City's PokeCenter. Her bag began to shake, indicating someone was either ringing her with PokeGear, or sending her a message with PokeMesse. Opening her silver bag, Brooke found her PokeMesse, and took a look at it. The screen was blank, with a metallic voice stating, "You have absolutely no messages…not even from your parents". Brooke ignored the voice and searched for her PokeGear this time. While she was rummaging in her bag, Brooke tried to think who was calling her in Hoenn, when PokeGear wasn't even here. It could be Jason, or Mum and Dad…Brooke thought silently to herself. Then an idea struck her just as she found her PokeGear. Brooke pressed the green button and turned on Vid Mode.

"Hello…May? Is that you there?" A feeling of pride grew in Brooke as she realized that her guess was right. May smiled sheepishly on the screen. She looked behind her shoulder and turned back to the PokeGear.

"Brooke Brendan came over to our gym house, and it's torture for me! Are you in Petalburg?" May whispered loudly to Brooke.

Brooke winced and checked whether there was a bench she could sit on. The PokeCenter, Mart, and a small park…the park! Brooke broke into a run and sat down heavily on the bench, with a bewildered May on the screen. Brooke found her water bottle and drank from it again, since she had filled it up at the PokeCenter already. Sticking the bottle back in her bag, Brooke said a few words May didn't hear. May frowned, and Brooke repeated herself.

"Is Brendan still at your gym house?"

May sweatdropped and scratched her head. She walked over to her laptop and told Brooke to wait. Brooke had no idea what May was doing, but waited patiently anyway. May was looking for her diary, of course, and stuck her PokeGear close to the screen, to show Brooke what she had written. Brooke read it out loud, and told May to take it back out again. The screen was still stuck on her laptop, and there was only a muffled voice around. Brooke took a deep breath, and shouted into the speakers.

"MAY SAPPHIRE! PUT THE POKEGEAR BACK!"

May jerked back into the real world just as Brooke started to shout. Dropping the PokeGear, she covered her ears and ran around the room in circles, while giving Brooke a clear view of what was happening. Brooke sighed, and wrote the message out on her screen, making the words appear on May's PokeGear. Pressing the red button, Brooke set off for the Sapphire Gym House.

After May had calmed down, she picked up her PokeGear and found Brooke had gone. Only a GearMessage was left, and May read it out to herself.

May, stop screaming and I'm coming over now. Leave Brendan to me for now. Forest.

May suddenly felt reasonably calm. Possibly due to the fact that she didn't have to face Brendan for now. Sighing, she put her PokeGear back on the shelf and grabbed some clothes to have a shower. Downstairs, Brendan was having a hard time trying to answer all of Max's questions.

"We have 3 starters in each of the regions, right? The starters here are Torchic, a Fire type, Mudkip, a water type, and Treecko, a Grass type. Which one do you want when you are a trainer, Max?" Brendan asked. Max looked happy that Brendan was asking him a question.

"I was going to pick Mudkip, but since May picked it, then I won't have it. Torchic is like a girly Pokemon, so I want Treecko! I heard it excels in speed, is it true?" Max replied. Looking ready to burst from happiness, Max grabbed another cupcake with icing and started to gobble it. Caroline turned around from making hot chocolate, and scolded Max for leaving only 2 cupcakes with icing for May. Brendan perked up at the mention of May, and the doorbell happened to ring again for the third time that day. Max yelled "I'll get it!" to Caroline before rushing out of the kitchen, hoping to get out of trouble for eating most of the iced cupcakes. Brooke was getting impatient waiting outside, and was just about to ring again when Max's head appeared. He smiled happily and greeted Brooke. Seeing Max, Brooke gave him a hug before walking into the kitchen, where everyone was most likely to be. Caroline called out to Max asking who it was, and Brendan replied for him.

"It's Brooke," he said softly. Brooke glanced at him and nodded her head politely. Caroline turned around, and smiled at Brooke.

"Hi Brooke, are you looking for May? She's locked herself in her room for some reason after Brendan here came over. Do you think you can try and get theses cupcakes to the other side of her door?" Caroline winked. Brooke caught the hint in it, and agreed. Picking up the plate, and a mug of hot chocolate for herself, she walked up slowly, when Brendan suddenly appeared next to her, offering to carry the plate with his own chocolate mug in the other hand. Brooke turned down the offer, and realized he was going to follow her to May's room! Brooke panicked, and a bit of chocolate slopped over onto her hand, jerking her back to reality with a little cry. Brendan frowned at her, and grabbed the plate to stop Brooke hurting herself anymore. Brooke ignored his help, and walked as fast as she could up to May's room, and knocked on the door. May called out, asking who it was, and Brooke answered, asking her to open the door quickly. May ran to the door, and unlocked it for Brooke. Brooke walked in, ad shut the door just as Brendan saw her go in. Brendan frowned, and put the food down before knocking.

"May? Brooke? It's Brendan here, can you open the door?" Brendan called.

May gulped, and smiled sheepishly at Brooke. Brooke was literally sweatdropping before opening the door for Brendan. May saw a black and red gloved hand holding a plate before whipping around to face her desk. Brendan blinked a few times, and stared around the weird room. Especially at the back of May's head, while she was taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Brooke stood in the middle of the two, and Brendan kept on moving his head to one side of Brooke while she moved herself in that direction to block out Brendan's view. He gave up and asked May directly.

"May, why are you avoiding me? What happened?" Brendan asked. May's shoulders drooped, and Brooke decided to move out of the way. She sat down on a spare chair and waited for a good show. Brendan was walking closer to the desk. May was gulping hard, waiting for something miraculous to happen. Brooke was getting bored of this, so she decided to make the first move.

"Look Brendan, what underwear are you wearing at the moment?"

Brendan turned a bright red and muttered something only he could hear, "Boxers,"

May turned redder than Brendan at this point, while Brooke grinned. "We-no, May actually knew this already,"

Brendan had a bewildered face on, and he gulped uneasily. Brooke almost fell over from laughing.

"There you go, now start your little conversation," Brooke ended. May turned around and makes a face at Brooke, making Brendan bite his lip to stop himself from laughing out loud. Brooke was what Brendan longed to do, rolling around from laughing too much. May and Brendan stood around awkwardly, until Brendan picked up his chocolate mug and walked out, leaving May a glowing bright red. Brooke finally recovered from her laughing, and stood up before falling onto May's bed. A soft tune began to play, with May realizing it was their piano. Someone was playing the piano! Running down the stairs with a cupcake, May turned on the heel of her foot and stared at the pianist. Brendan Birch was playing skillfully on the piano, changing from the Fur Elise he was playing to Alla Turka, and May reached over him to grab her violin. Setting up her position, she began to play a duet with Brendan, attracting a small group of people from Petalburg to listen outside the window. In the Petalburg Gym, all battles began to slow and stop as they listened to the beautiful song. The gym challenger stopped the battle with his hand, and tilted his head to one side. His jet-black hair messed up even more as he ran his fingers through…

haha! Cliffhanger…kinda. -- that kinda sucked, but then again, it IS an in-between chapter…well, R and R…that should be long enough, I was onto my seventh page on MS Word…


	4. Chapter 3 and a half

Point Me To The League

Chapter 3.5

Gym Battle or New Pokémon?

Disclaimer I do not own Pokémon…nor Shrek 2

A/N This chapter is rated PG 13+ because of some signs later on in the chap…

IUh, yeah, this is the updated half-chapter 3.5 of PMTTL, which I finally got round to typing…XD and Norman and Max may seem a bit OOC, since I missed the ep where he battled, and I dunno what level his Pokémon are either…oh ya, shippyness alert/I

Last Time

I_May saw Brendan undressing in the Prof.'s office, and ran home to Petalburg. Brendan came after her, and is playing a duet with her. All motion and battles in Petalburg stopped, including a gym challenger. The gym challenger is standing there listening to the music, not battling. Read on to find out who this challenger is…/I_

"May. MAY. MAY!" yelled Brooke, trying to get May's attention by waving her hand in front of her face. May's glazed-over orbs were staring at a figure that was talking into his PokeNavi, the boy they called Brendan Birch. He was listening intently to the person on the other end, frowning. May turned her head without taking her eyes off Brendan and attempted to talk to Brooke.

"Mmm?" May mumbled something to Brooke. Brooke rolled her eyes, and took action.

"Wha? OW!" May felt her head turned around to face Brooke properly, her neck yanked painfully.

"What was that for Brooke? I was already answering you!" May said indignantly, turning around to face Brendan again, before turning around hurriedly, because Brendan was moving around, and would see May in a few seconds if he continued to move. May blushed, a rosy pink tinge appearing in her cheeks. Brooke made an anime 'what!' face, and pulled her PokeGear out.

"Listen to this, May…I_Brooke, I know you're in Hoenn at the moment, but our gym has suddenly collapsed…I need you to come home right now, and bring whatever Pokémon you have. We need it for strength, to rebuild the gym. Love, Mum /I_. Hear that May? I'm going to have to go home to Kanto, and before I go I have to catch some Pokémon that's nice and strong," Brooke said sadly as she stuffed her PokeGear back in her bag and started counting the number of spare PokeBalls she had left. May stared at Brooke for a while before gulping.

"Who's going to help me with Brendan then? You can't leave me here!" May objected to Brooke's message from home. She frowned, and grabbed her own PokeGear before her hand was grabbed by Brooke.

"What are you doing May? Don't tell me you're going to send my family a note saying I have to stay here because of some little problem you have! It's our private gym business!"

"Of course not, I was going to suggest Pokémon they could use to help rebuild the gym if you weren't so sensitive!"

"Well why not tell me? Cos I'm the one who's catching the Pokémon and taking them home!"

"Oh, I didn't know you could catch Kanto Pokémon in HOENN…now that's a news flash for me!"

"You could have told me that, and I'm not going to take my Kanto Pokémon with me, only Hoenn ones!"

May was silent. She figured out that if they said anything else, then a real fight would start, and they had already caught the attention of a few tourists passing by. May gulped and turned bright red, due to the fact she heard them mutter 'yeah, that's the daughter of the Petalburg Gym Leader…'. Brooke raised her eyebrow, and started heading towards May's house, to say goodbye before she left for Kanto. May followed her, secretly writing a brief message on her PokeGear before stuffing it back into her bag. She smiled stupidly at Brooke, and tapped her on the shoulder lightly. Brooke turned around in mild surprise, and waited for May to give her a reaction. May just stood there in the middle of a cross-path, outside the PokeCenter. A minute passed before May edged sideways towards the Sapphire gym house, and slamming the door shut behind her. Brooke's eyes blinked a few times, before she realized what May had done.

"MAY SAPPHIRE! YOU ARE NOT LOCKING MY STUFF IN YOUR HOUSE TO KEEP ME IN HOENN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Meanwhile, the gym had been busy with at least five trainers battling, but the only one that would have caught anyone's eye would be the actual gym challenger, the one who was battling in the posh wooden room that held the silver Balance Badge. This trainer had jet black hair, and he was battling using a Pikachu, possibly his most faithful Pokémon.

"Go Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he shouted out to his comrade. Pikachu nodded.

"Pika pika! CHUUUUUU!" Pikachu released an exploding lightning attack that hit his opponent Slaking hard face-on, resulting in Slaking lying there motionless, waiting for its trainer to give a command.

"Slaking! Use Flail now!" the Petalburg Gym Leader, also known as Norman Sapphire, shouted. He held his clenched fists up to show his determination, something his opponent was also doing.

"Pikachu, counter with Iron Tail! Hurry, before the Flail hits!"

Pikachu's tail lighted up with silvery light, while its eyes shone red with confidence. It ran straight for the slow-moving Slaking, meeting it head on. Both attacks hit home at the same time, while the shock blew up a large amount of the floorboards between Pikachu and Slaking, with Pikachu stepping gingerly from one sturdy floorboard to the next. It stopped at the floorboard that was deliberately placed perpendicular to the other ones, signifying where the challenger's Pokémon should stand. Pikachu shot a small spark of electricity out to show it was still willing to battle. Slaking, on the other hand, was puffing hard and looking extremely exhausted, compared to Pikachu. Norman looked worriedly at his Pokémon, and asked it if it was okay and fit to battle. Slaking gave a croon, and a thumbs-up to Norman. Pikachu and its trainer blinked and stood there unmoving, staring at the thumbs-up that Slaking was making. It turned its head towards them, and gave a 'peace' sign. With its other hand, it made another peace sign but this time turned it around. Pikachu suddenly glared at it, and shot out a Thunder attack without any trainer command at all. Slaking froze, and lay unmoving like always, with one peace sign, and one seven-ups sign. Pikachu then did something that resembled a 'thumbed his nose' action, raising his eyebrows at his trainer. His trainer was stunned, and muttered something that sounded like 'nayafinishewivfunabalt'. Norman quickly commanded Slaking to use Rest, but Pikachu miraculously picked up his trainer's mutter, and, after charging up for a moment, released a Thunderbolt attack that was worthy to blast Team Rocket off again. The attack hit Slaking hard, and it froze once more with the 'peace' hand turned the other way now. Slaking lay there motionless, and the ref announced who had won and all. Norman returned his fainted Slaking, and walked over the trainer, who hadn't returned Pikachu but had it jump onto his shoulder. Norman smiled, and held out his hand.

"Well done Ash Ketchum, you've beaten me too now. Here's your well-deserved Balance Badge, and I wish you luck in your journey. Are you going to travel directly to Fortree, or stay around here and train for a while?" Norman congratulated the glowing trainer, who held out his hand too and shook Norman's. He accepted the silver Balance Badge, and held it up to Pikachu before setting it into his badge case. Ash smiled, and took out his PokeNavi. Turning around, he dialed Brock's number in and waited. After twenty minutes, when Brock had Istill/I not picked up, Ash gave up and turned back to Norman.

"You might wanna take Slaking to the PokeCenter, he seems really exhausted…that was a good battle Norman!" Ash said. He began walking off in the direction of the PokeCenter, patting Pikachu on the head and grinning at him. Norman raised an eyebrow, sighing before following Ash over to the PokeCenter. As he walked in, he noticed Max sitting in a corner with a pile of Pokémon magazines and journals on the table.

"Hey Max, what's up? Where's May, by the way?" Norman asked. He waved to Nurse Joy to get her attention, and threw his PokeBalls over to be healed. Nurse Joy smiled at him. Ash watched this trick, and made a mental note to ask how close they were. Max leant over, and glanced at Ash for a moment before telling Norman.

"Dad, May's locked herself IN the house, and Brooke OUT of the house cos Brooke has to go back to Kanto to help rebuild their gym. It got crashed down, you see," Max whispered quietly. Norman's eyes widened and he started to raise his voice.

"May locked herself in? And Brooke out when SHE HAS TO GO BACK TO KANTO TO HELP REBUILD THE GYM? MAY SAPPHIRE YOU ARE DEAD AS SOON AS I GET HOME! Max, isn't your mother home though?" Norman roared before calming down a little, but still breathed heavily. Ash and the rest of the crowd inside the PokeCenter stared in awe, surprised that their gym leader could be so angry.

"Erm, well Mum happened to be going out shopping…for new clothes, groceries, supplies for May, and…PokeDolls," Max managed the last word with difficulty, taking at least 20 seconds to gather courage. He grabbed the nearest bottle of water and bgan gulping down the bottle, his eyes popping out.

"Dad, can we go to Parbucks for a drink? I feel dirty now, after I said that word…" Max whined. Norman was standing there with his finger on his chin, looking thoughtful. Ash thanked Nurse Joy before weaving his way between the huddled groups in the Center.

"Hey Norman, if you don't mind I'll take this little boy to Parbucks for you…" Ash offered. Max suddenly glared at Ash.

"Little boy! Who are you calling little boy here? I'm 9 this year, and that's not little! Dad, lend me your Vigoroth…I'm going to bash this dude out," Max was getting worked up by two little words. Ash held his hands up and started to move backwards slowly, looking at Norman for help. Norman stepped between them and reasoned everything out.

"Woah, woah, woah Max, calm down…he only called you little boy because he doesn't know your name, see? Ash this is Max, Max, this is Ash, he just won the Balance Badge off me. So you better respect him or else…" Norman cracked his knuckles on one hand threateningly, "yeah, so Ash it would be a great help if you could take Max to Parbucks, since I have to go home and sort out this 'locked in, locked out' problem caused by May…anyway, have fun you guys!" Norman walked with them out of the PokeCenter before waving them off and hurrying home.

All the way to Parbucks Max was glaring at Ash, for calling him a little boy. Ash just nodded his head and held his hands up, since he knew Max would tear him apart with his Dad's Pokémon if he said anything else that was offensive.

"Hey Max, what drink do you want? I'll pay for you…" Ash offered. Max was glaring at the ground so he didn't hear Ash. Ash frowned, and waved his hand in front of Max's face. Max jumped, and glared at Ash again.

"What did you do that for? I was thinking of new Pokémon strategies!" Max actually really wanted to study Ash's Pikachu, since you had to go all the way to the Safari Zone near Lilycove City to see one. Max's face suddenly became sullen. Ash felt a bit sorry for Max before replying.

"I was just asking what dirnk you would like, since I'll pay for you," Ash repeated. Max's face lighted up and he began talking at once.

"Thanks! I'd like a Frappucino, and I'll get one for May too…I'll pay for that one, okay? Oh, and can I study your Pikachu sometime?" Max gabbered all of this to Ash in the same way he had done that to Brendan. Ash raised his eyebrow, and nodded slowly. They walked into Parbucks with Max being friendly, until he wrinkled up his nose and said there was a stench somewhere. Ash looked around, and saw a hurt Ralts lying down round the back of Parbucks. His eyes widened, and he hurried over to see what was wrong with it. Max followed closely.

"We better get this to Nurse Joy quick, or else it'll die Ash!" Max cried. Ash nodded, and carrying the Ralts in his arms, ran towards the PokeCenter again.

I _hmm...well, you could call that the smallest cliffhanger you've ever seen...to be updated soon/I_


	5. Chapter 4

Point Me To The League

Chapter 4 (second half) Oh no! Parbucks attack?

Disclaimer I don't own Pokémon…and I think Studio Ghibli inspired me XD

_Okay, so I'm really sorry it took so long to update, but my website's been taking up time too…enjoy this half-chap, which starts to go more Advancedshippy, and less Hoennshippy…. and just a minor note, means time break_

Last time…

_May found out that Brooke had to go back to her gym in Kanto, since something had destroyed most of the building. Out of hopes to try and keep Brooke in Hoenn, May has locked herself in her house, along with Brooke's belongings. On the other hand, Norman has told Ash to take Max to Parbucks for a drink while he goes home to unlock the house for Brooke. Max and Ash have found a dying Pokémon behind the Parbucks building, and are rushing it to the PokeCenter..._

"Come on Ash, run faster! The Ralts won't be alive for long if you're running at that pace!" Max hurried Ash along, since it had already been 10 minutes from when they discovered the Ralts behind Parbucks. If they didn't hurry, then it would die like Max said. Ash bit his lip and ran on, trying to increase his speed. Fifty metres, twenty…it wasn't too long until they reached the PokeCenter, but to Ash and Max it seemed like an eternity. They burst into the PokeCenter like a hound of dogs after sheep belonging to an angry farmer.

"Nurse Joy! You **have** to see this Ralts, it's almost dying!" Max practically screamed at Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy wasn't the type to be sarcastic and waste time, and hurried to see the Ralts immediately. Her eyes grew wide and she called over Chansey to take it to the emergency room. Ash and Max slumped back in the soft chintz armchairs that were around. Ash pulled out his PokeDex and looked Ralts up. Max pushed his glasses up his nose a bit more and a glint appeared in his eyes.

"Hey Ash, what did you discover then?"

Ash looked stunned for a few seconds, before holding out his PokeDex and letting it read out an entry in its mechanic female voice.

"Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts is a Psychic Pokémon that has two red horns on its head to sense feelings radiating from nearby humans. However, if the horns are even slightly scratched, this Pokémon's power will start to drain rapidly away."

Max stayed silent after Ash had stashed his trusty PokeDex in his backpack again. His glasses started to slide slowly down his nose. He didn't even attempt to push them back up when they reached the end of his nose, and started to fall soundlessly to the tiled floor, had Ash not grabbed his glasses and replaced them on his nose in their normal position. Max seemed to have frozen into this position, with the blankest face Ash had ever seen in their short meet. Ash crouched there silently, with Max just sitting there, eyes looking as cold as the feng shui water feature with smooth stones sitting in the corner.

Nearly a whole hour had passed before Nurse Joy broke the gloomy silence between Ash and Max. She was almost reluctant to give the news of the Ralts, when she saw the death-stare Max was wearing on his face.

"The Ralts you brought in was just in time- ten more minutes and she would've died, since the horns on her head were severely damaged. It appears to be a Crabhammer attack, but we're not sure yet…" Nurse Joy hurried back to her post to heal another trainer's Pokémon. By this time, Max's face had gone from depressed to enlightened, and he was hopping around like a duck before crashing onto Ash.

"Woah, watch it Max…" Ash began, but was cut off by a high-pitched Pokémon cry. Max jumped even higher, and ran off to Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy, when can I see that Ralts we brought in? Is she sleeping?" Nurse Joy chose to ignore Max for a bit, since the familiar 'dun dun dun dun dun!' was all she could hear.

"Your Pokémon are now so fit they can beat down Rayquaza! We hope to see you again! Now, what is it little kid?" Impatient to get rid of Max, Nurse Joy finally looked at Max. His eyes lit up.

"I want to know how the Ralts is doing! Can I go and see her?" Max repeatedly enthusiastically. Nurse Joy sighed, and started to walk towards the emergency rooms the Ralts was in. Max did an empty hi-five to Ash as he followed Nurse Joy towards the Ralts.

Meanwhile, Norman was taking out his large bunch of keys and unlocking the stained glass door that led to the inside of his gym house. Fumes coming out of his nose, and with a vein popping out of his head, Norman stormed around until he glimpsed a lock of chestnut brown hair, poking out of the door frame to May Sapphire's bedroom. She was staring out the window at 2 figures arguing, twirling her hair in one hand. Norman's eyes narrowed, then he knocked on the door robotically. May's head whipped around.

"DAD! What are you doing here? I thought you had a gym challenger!" May gasped.

"Who told you to lock Brooke out so she can't get back to Kanto! I'm here to get her stuff and let her go back! And plus…the challenger's already defeated me, no point hanging round the gym now is there?" Norman retorted. May's eyes widened. She glanced out the window again, and pointed.

"Dad, look…Brooke and Brendan are fighting over who vandalised the Celadon gym…" May said, looking like she wanted to be down there with them arguing.

Outside, Brooke was shouting at Brendan that it had not been someone in the family.

"Why would they vandalise their own gym? It's POINTLESS, they're the ones who are repairing the gym right now!" Brooke shouted. Brendan stuck his hand on a PokeBall, and shouted back.

"Well doesn't that make it easy for them? They'd have the key to the gym and everything! Where the documents are kept, where the badges are stored, how the Pokémon are doing, where the toilet is!"

Brooke raised an eyebrow. "Where the toilet is?"

"Yeah, in case they were desperate for a pee."

"Dude, there's a toilet right outside the gym. Just like the one here in Petalburg."

Brendan turned pink. He mumbled something that sounded like "velleyehavenbinonajorneybeyfour….". His hand crept to the PokeBall on his belt again, this time pulling it off and holding it high.

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

Brooke blinked. In terms of trainer experience, she had way more than Brendan, but he was the son of Prof. Birch…Brooke's lips cracked into a one-sided smile.

"I accept your challenge. GO, Meditite!"

A blue and white Pokémon came flying out. Sitting down in a yoga-like position, it cried its battle cry.

"Medi, Meditite!" The Meditite started glowing a ghostly purple, and floated off the ground a little.

Brendan closed his eyes, and whispered a battle promise to Latias before sending out his Pokémon as well.

"I choose you! Use Crunch on that Meditite!"

The Mightyena that had been sent out, nicknamed d'Oile, raced forward on the damp grass with her fangs beared. Growling, she snapped her jaws shut like a mousetrap, digging the sharp white triangles into the Meditite's small body. The Meditite let out a peal of pain. d'Oile padded backwards to her trainer, awaiting her opposition to move.

Twitching her mouth into a half smile, Brooke waited patiently for her Meditite to recover and take its eerie floating position again.

"Meditite, show 'em what you've got!"

After its trainer had given her command, Meditite shook and floated even higher, gaining a height at least a hundred Brendan's tall. Both Pokémon and Trainer tilted their heads together as they watched the Meditite soar higher still. Suddenly, Meditite glowed blue and started plummeting down, fast. Gaining speed, Meditite continued the lightning-fast attack, which consisted of a rushing Meditite combined with Psychic and a Focus Punch. Air whistled past Meditite, while d'Oile stood like a rock. Five, four, three, two, one. BOOM! When the dust had cleared, a large hole where d'Oile was before had formed. d'Oile, however, wasn't in the hole. She was half scrabbling out, with her paws bleeding and looking very weary. Meditite was lying in the pit, eyes closed and the purple light gone.

Both trainers' eyes widened. Brendan rushed to d'Oile's side, while Brooke scrambled down the sides of the hole to Meditite's side. The speedy attack apparently had backfired, for Meditite was completely KO-ed, unmoving in the middle of the earth's surface. Brooke's face began to be stained by wet drops running down her face, dripping off the end of her nose silently. Brendan finished checking if d'Oile was okay, and returned her. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he slipped and skidded down the rocks of the hole. Biting his lip, he saw Brooke was holding her Meditite's hand, and crying. He reached out for her PokeBall, and returned her Pokémon for her.

"Look, I'm sorry about the whole battle and everything, but don't cry…c'mon, get a grip on yourself!" Brendan ran out of things to say while Brooke sat there crying. Her eyes slowly turned puffy and red, while her hands just lay on her lap. Brendan bit his lip with uncomfort.

From above, May had watched the whole argument and battle, until Meditite had mortally wounded itself with its own attack. Running as fast as she could down the stairs, May burst out into the park and panted. Slowly stumbling over to Brooke, she closed her eyes and gulped.

"Are you okay? Let's get to the PokeCenter, c'mon…"

Brooke nodded slowly and let May and Brendan help her up. The trio walked to the PokeCenter together. Brooke handed Nurse Joy her Meditite's PokeBall with a trembling hand, and staggered over to sit down. Her words could barely be heard when she spoke at last.

"I'm sorry for being so stupid and thinking I could win."

Brendan didn't hear all of it, but nodded anyway. He smiled and took Brooke's hand to show he hadn't been angry at all. May felt a dull thud somewhere in her chest. Trying desperately to hide the way her hands were wringing, she stuck an arm around Brooke's shoulders.

"Don't worry Brooke, Meditite'll be fine in a tick. You know how good this Nurse Joy is." May encouraged her to be cheerful. Brendan grinned to show he agreed. Brooke's lips slowly stretched into a weak smile.

"Thanks guys. I just got a little emotional cos Meditite was my first Pokémon. Sorry for making you so miserable…"

Nurse Joy chose that moment to come over and break the news of Meditite to Brooke.

"I'm so sorry, Brooke. Your Meditite…"

Glaring ice daggers at Nurse Joy, May and Brendan desperately tried to cover Brooke's ears, but she shook them off. They made exasperated motions and folded their arms at exactly the same time. Brendan felt a jolt of surprise.

"Your…your…your Meditite might have to stay here for up to 10 months! It was severely hurt when it collided with the earth instead of its opponent…there's nothing we can do about it, except give it a regular change of bandages and supply it with food, water, and roses."

Brendan raised an eyebrow. "Roses?"

May smiled happily. "Yup, Meditite loves roses. Except for the fact that's it's a boy, and not supposed to like flowers. But still, Brooke gives it roses all the time."

Nodding, Brendan said, "I see. So will Brooke go back to Kanto without Meditite, or stay until Meditite is fully healed?"

He had hit a soft point. Brooke's shoulders slumped for a moment, but then she jerked back up and replied. May drew her finger across her neck, signaling that Brendan would be dead when she got back to him. Brendan gulped. He had been on good terms with May so far, and he didn't want to ruin their peace either. Having first handedly witnessed a fit that May could throw, he had long since decided that peace should be kept.

"I'll stay in Hoenn until Meditite recovers. My mum will just have to do without me. Maybe I'll send her Pokémon I catch soon."

"Well then you can travel with me! That's gonna be fun, back to the good old hot chocolate, Pokémon discussions, and talk about Re-roses." Suddenly blushing, May hurriedly turned around and talked to Nurse Joy about room arrangements for Meditite. Brendan looks puzzled, and Brooke smiled a familiar smile before telling him it was "girl business, my dear fellow trainer".

Ash was reading a magazine entitled "Pokémon: THE Magazine to Buy 'Em All!" It featured a mail order for Pokémon, something Ash didn't approve of.

"Humph. Why don't they go and catch their I_own_/I Pokémon then? It's not hard…" Half way through saying the rest of the sentence, he spotted Max walking out and the trio while moving his eyes back round to Nurse Joy. He lighted up immediately when he saw who he believed to be the gym leader's daughter, May. She was bound to have good battling skills, probably better than his own.

"Hello? Anyone home there?" Max waved his hand repeatedly in front of Ash's face while he stared at the girls. Ash jerked back and sounded annoyed.

"What!"

"Erm, hello, we're going now."

"We are? Have you finished seeing Ralts already!"

Max looked at him oddly. "Yes, of course I have. Dude, I just got back from seeing it…"

"Oh…right. Well, we can go now." Ash's eyes lingered after the group standing near the other side of the Center. Max sighed.

"Ash, we _know_ you like Nurse Joy, but just remember you can come back everyday to see her. Now stop gawking at her pink hair."

Ash looked like stone. "I do not like Nurse Joy!" He shouted across the entire PokeCenter. Realising what he'd done, Ash covered his mouth hurriedly. Max smirked.

"Told ya! Then you were staring at Brooke! Or my sister! Or even Brendan! Yuck…"

Ash looked bewildered. "That…that girl is your sister?" Straight after he said that, he mentally kicked himself. Max was Norman's son, and May was the gym leader's daughter…which meant they were the children of Norman. Max looked exasperated this time.

"Ahem. Maybe we should go? I want to finish that Parbucks drink trip we were taking…oh, wait." Max dashed off to where May was discussing who she would be traveling with, overhearing Brendan offering to go with May and Brooke to

"Protect you guys, yes. Why? Cos I'm a guy! Probably stronger than you girls…" Brendan continued. He had barely realized Max was there, but glanced at him all the same. May smiled happily.

"That's settled then! C'mon Brooke, look happier…" May pleaded.

"Well, personally I'd think I could take care of myself. I haven't been a trainer for 2 years for nothing, May." Brooke smirked at Brendan. He blushed.

"Aww, come on Brooke, let him come…oh, hi there Max. Didn't see you before."

Max fell over, literally. "I'm your own brother, and you forget about me! Oh, I'm insulted! And to think I was going to get you a Parbucks…" Max folded his arms and turned away. May's eyes widened, and she turned straight to Max.

"Please? Please get me a Parbucks! Come on Max, get me a Frappacino…"

Ash overheard this, and mentally remembered the fact May liked Frappacinoes…

May turned her nose up, and walked back to Brendan and Brooke.

"Brendan, I'm really sorry. If Brooke doesn't agree, you can't travel with us. And plus, I won't go if Ma-AHHH!" May screamed. A large orange blob was all that could be seen outside the PokeCenter's clear glass doors. Brooke yelled desperately.

"May, I never said he couldn't come! For all I care, that dude with the cap can come too!"

_well, how was that? It's longer than I wanted it to be, I think…7 pages? XD wait for the next chappie then, it'll probably take a long time since my exams are starting again..._


End file.
